home

jobs

	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 10, 2004

Hal Sutton

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We're joined by Captain Hal Sutton.

Hal, you've got a big year coming up, but first and foremost, let's talk about the PGA TOUR season and then we can get into the Ryder Cup. Just talk about the year so far.

HAL SUTTON: I haven't played particularly well. I'm not very pleased with the way I've played so far. But as I said to somebody not long ago, I don't know that it's necessarily a huge concern of mine with everything else that's going on whether I make a birdie or a bogey.

There's enough competitiveness in me that I still hate to make bogey, but there's a lot of things going on.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Maybe some opening comments about the Ryder Cup, as well. Obviously it's looming in the distance, but it should be an exciting one this year.

HAL SUTTON: I think it's much closer than we all realize it is. I'm getting really excited about it. The team, everyone is earning points, you know. It's kind of shifting around here a little bit each week. It's fun to watch. I played golf with a whole bunch of the guys, and it's been fun to watch them and interact with them and talk about it with them. I've tried to share some of the things that we are doing with them so that they feel included and know a little bit about it.

I think it's important that they know what's going on. They feel like they are part of it. I think that's one of the things that's been missing for the American players is that we are so busy in our world that we kind of get to the Ryder Cup and we think, oh, yeah, that's right we are playing the Ryder Cup this week.

I'm going to do everything in my power to keep that from happening this year. We are going to talk about this every time I get a chance to talk about it to one of them.

Q. You look on the periphery of 10, 11, 12: Haas, Funk, Verplank, Tway, Triplett, Maggert, these guys step on it and play well enough to either earn their way with on points or as a captain's pick and everything, what kind of things will they bring to the team, that group?

HAL SUTTON: Well, the obvious, just picked out a bunch of old guys there. So they are experienced. I fit in the same category; so you can't throw rocks if you live in a glass house.

They have all played very well. Scott Verplank is playing he hit a great shot last week. I commend Craig Parry for the shot that he holed, but for Scott to hit the green interest where he was at was miraculous. Scott is a tough little guy. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he made the team.

But any of those guys, I would love to see Bob Tway make it. I don't think he's ever made the Ryder Cup team. I'm sure he's thinking about that. You don't get a lot of chances. Certainly, Bob, if he's not as old as I am, he's close to as old as I am.

Q. Experienced but not of them have a whole lot of international match play experience. Should they get on a team, that wouldn't bother you too much, do you think they will perform well ?

HAL SUTTON: That's kind of the point where I was going for a minute. You be Bob Tway for a minute. Never having been on a Ryder Cup team, 40 something years old, maybe your only shot ever to be there. I'm going to get in his head here for a minute and I'm going so say he's going to give it all he's got because he wants that one experience to be the absolute memory he's ever had in his life.

So I don't see that as a negative. I see that as a positive.

Q. You've been setting up some of your practice rounds with different guys to learn players a little bit, learn their games?

HAL SUTTON: Not really. I've been playing in the tournament. I'm playing with Steve Flesch this week. He's 24th. Certainly, Steve has played very well so far this year. I played with Jerry Kelly this year, Chad Campbell, Jonathan Kaye. I've been playing with a bunch of the guys, usually on Thursday and Friday. I'm not playing on Saturday and Sunday. (Laughs).

We are going to turn that around, though, Doug.

Q. What do you know about Maarten Lafeber?

HAL SUTTON: Very little. What do you want me to know about him?

Q. I was just checking. Every month, I'm going to meet the Euros.

HAL SUTTON: Are you?

Q. Carlos Rodiles, he's on the list.

HAL SUTTON: (Laughs).

Q. Are you getting feedback from some of these guys but Jerry Kelly at The Match Play was saying he was glad he played well because he was saying he was playing so bad the whole West Coast, "I played with Hal couldn't hit the ball at all," he thought he proved a point he played with you but he played terrible a week later

HAL SUTTON: Y'all want to hear a funny comment about Jerry Kelly playing with me in L.A.? Played with him for three rounds in L.A. Third round, he did not play well the third round. He looked over, we were walking to the fifth green and he said, "I hate I played like this in front of you this week."

I said, "Yeah, but you chipped the hell out of the ball this week." (Laughter.)

Jerry, he really got a big kick out of that. He did play great at The Match Play and Jerry is a tough competitor. I can tell you right now, he's certainly a guy that has a lot within. He's that sort of guy that would have been great whenever was it the guy, Patino when he was at Rhode Island didn't they tell them when they won the quarterfinals to throw it out on the floor and play hard.

Jerry Kelly, he's that sort of guy to me. He's a feisty little guy. If you got in a ring with him and had to fight with him, he'd fight to the death, basically.

Q. He does that out here on the golf course sometimes. I had a question about, not to fan the flames here of what happened with Davis at The Match Play but this being a Ryder Cup year, you and Bernhard can do so much in terms of the spirit of the competition, but is there any concern that what goes on outside the ropes, behavior wise is kind of out of your hand? Do you know what I'm getting at?

HAL SUTTON: Yeah. I mean, you know, I can't play daddy to all of these guys. These are all mature, grown men and PGA of America is taking every precaution that they can to see to it that we've got the friendliest competition we can have. Although, I'm sure, I know this is going to be the case with the players, we are going there to win.

Every fan in the world is for somebody and there's only basically two teams to be for there. When you get that kind of scenario, there's going to be somebody that's going to get out of hand somewhere. It's just how you deal with it and the PGA of America has a plan to deal with that.

I'm going to tell the guys: Let's be respectful but let's go play our heart out, be yourself. Don't feel like I put you in a straightjacket in any sort of way. You don't have to restrain yourself, Tiger. If you make that 25 footer and you want to pump that fist and it goes 20 feet in the air, if you can get that high, baby, get it.

Q. For you, at Brookline and also at The Belfry, I'm sure you heard that the cheers, make or miss, depending on whose team you are, and did you ever hear anything directed either at you or your competitors from, after the shot was hit or anything that disrupted the actual shot being played?

HAL SUTTON: No. I never heard anything directed at me.

At Brookline, I played Colin one time and fans got on Colin once or twice. You know, I would hope that that sort of thing doesn't happen again.

You know, every time somebody gets on somebody, there's usually a reason for that, whether it was from the past or whatever, that person has made himself accessible to get on or whatever else. I'm not picking on Colin when I say that, but, you know, he has given himself a reason for somebody to get on him occasionally. Now, that doesn't mean that they should, you know.

I think, I really believe this and I don't think there's any reason in the world we ought to linger on on this subject. I really believe The Matches are going to be played with a real respectful competitive spirit. You know, I know Bernhard is as nice a guy as there is in the world, but I know how much he burns to win. And that same thing is true with me. I may not be that nice a guy, but I still like to win. We're going to go there, each of us are going to go there trying to bestow that spirit on 12 other guys that are actually going to go make it happen. I'm sure he, like I, will ask them to be respectful but go play like hell.

Q. What kind of counsel have you had from other captains previous whether you've played for them or before; any?

HAL SUTTON: We had a team dinner well, a past captain's dinner about a year and, what was it, January of last year. So about 14 or 15 months ago. I think there were 10 or 12 past captains there. I didn't actually have a lot of counsel from them. They talked about the way it was then and experiences they had. But not a lot of counsel on what I should do.

I'm going to get a lot of counsel with Jackie Burke as an assistant captain. That's one of the reasons why I wanted him to be assistant captain is I felt like he could only add to the equation in a multitude of ways.

Q. A couple of weeks ago Bernhard, I spoke with him, and his quote was along the line, "it really doesn't matter who wins or loss, it's the spirit of the game present the game in the best possible way," and you kind of just hit on that. Are you more like you really want to win; that's going to be the more important thing? Do you have a different perspective I have?

HAL SUTTON: I honestly think Bernhard didn't tell you the gospel truth if he told you that it really didn't matter who won. I mean, that's the honest to God truth, and I love Bernhard, he's a great guy. But I know that man burns to win. And I think it matters to him who wins. So I don't totally see eye to eye with that. It darn sure matters to me that we put forth our best foot forward and we are respectful and I hope we win. I mean, I'm just being honest about it.

The Final Four, those four teams go to the Final Four and they just hope that they exploit the game in a positive way. Is that what they really hope? If you're the coach of that team that you do that, I'm firing you if I'm the AD because we are not going to be successful in the long run. I mean, that's just we are talking, this is obvious stuff to me.

This is sports. I mean, we want to win. I mean, I hope I didn't come across too strong with that because, you know I can't be responsible for fans, and I can't be responsible for what the United States of America fans do or the European fans do. I can be responsible for the 12 guys that go out there that represent the United States. I'm going to do my dead level best to convince them that winning is a good thing.

Q. I remember when we had the conference call and you got named captain and you alluded to the fact that you wanted to put a little bit more passion into Tiger. Have you seen any evidence about this event, have you seen evidence that that may be the case; have you talked to him about it at all?

HAL SUTTON: I've had three conversations personal and with Tiger about it. I've had a conversation over the telephone with Tiger. Tiger is engaged. He is excited about this year's Ryder Cup. He's talking to me about this year's Ryder Cup.

I think Tiger has accepted the challenge that I throughout there; be the quarterback of this team, be the No. 1 player in the world that you are, even during the week of the Ryder Cup. Tiger's going to be ready. I can tell you right now. He's engaged. Both engaged (Laughter.)

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the letter process that's been going on where you've been leaving letters in player's lockers, the impetus to that and what you hope to gain from that?

HAL SUTTON: I was just thinking about two or three weeks ago that we I was thinking about me as a player on the Ryder Cup team. I kind of fell into that category of, "oh, yeah, by the way we are playing the Ryder Cup this week," and I don't want that to happen this year. I want everybody to be aware of the Ryder Cup six and eight months out. Hey, we are going to have that tournament in September and it's a biggy and I want to be ready.

The only way that I can do that is to talk about it. It's got to be a goal. It's got to be something that they are looking forward to rather than dreading. There's a little bit of that dreading that goes on about the Ryder Cup. Because if you lose and if you're the guy that causes you to lose, then you catch a lot of flak for it. And the responsibility of that is on your shoulders. It's kind of like, oh, I don't know if I really want to do that or not. I don't know if I want that responsibility or not.

So, the way to handle that is is just, hey, let's get charged up about it. Let's just get ready. Let's just don't have an excuse.

So that's what really started me wanting to do this. So I just went down the list of the top 25 guys on there and thought I would personalize a letter to each and every one of them and talk about the steps of being part of that Ryder Cup team might mean to their career.

It's just a way of me keeping them focused on what we are doing. I mean, there's a lot of things going on in every one of these guy's lives. It's easy to forget that that's going to happen and I just don't want that to happen.

Q. Talk about the dread and expectations placed on Ryder Cup players and it seems to from the outside at least, sound nice and whatever, but that's maybe the top five or eight guys. Once you get past that, guys who are trying to get on the team seem to have a burning passion or desire, when it is six months out or not. If you factor in that current form how people are playing, past experiences you've had playing with guys in the Ryder Cup, say Verplank and people like that, how would you rank captain's pick criteria for you? What's the most important thing that's going to strike you versus how badly they want to play, how well they are playing, how they played in the past, experience, age, where do those things all factor?

HAL SUTTON: I tell you what, if a guy has not given me some sort of evidence that he wants to be on that team, I doubt he'll make that team. I mean, you've got to want to be there. In fact, you've got to burn to be there. So I'd have to put that first.

You know, heart, it's an unmeasurable thing; you can't measure. But it's something that's so badly needed in order to achieve something this big. So I'm going to putt that first and I don't know where first, second, third and fourth will fall.

Q. You said it's unmeasurable, but do you know it when you see if?

HAL SUTTON: I think we all know it when you see it.

Q. Are you confident that you

HAL SUTTON: I think I know exactly. And, yeah, over the course of the next six months, that's going to play out even more. It's not I'm not talking about just what they do on the golf course. I mean, you know, comments made to me, they are usually there's a message behind most comments that are made to me about the Ryder Cup. I mean, if I'm smart enough to anything out what the message is, well, then I can use it.

Some people, you can tell by their comment whether they want to be on the team or if they don't or if they are just making some comment about it. That's what I'm saying.

Q. Have you had enough guys that have told you words to this effect, "Hal, I will do anything possible to be on that team" to make you confident that you are going to have a lot of guys to choose from?

HAL SUTTON: I haven't had those specific words that are anything of that kind. But you can tell when a guy is talking to you whether he I mean, it's on the list of his goals, it's in the top two or three, or if it's, hey, I remember there's a Ryder Cup this year and I know I've got a few points and I'm working on trying to get more. That ought to tell you something right there. If a guy tells you something like that, he's small talking with you.

Q. Is anyone referred to it as an exhibition this year?

HAL SUTTON: I don't think anybody is going to refer to it as that.

Q. In the Ryder Cup Matches that you've played, when you think back, does one shot or one hole that you played in one of your matches stand out when you think of some of your playing experiences?

HAL SUTTON: Yeah, there's always there's spectacular things that happen in a Ryder Cup. I mean, I thought at times I saw really good play out here. You'd see a guy do something that was just totally spectacular like what Craig Parry did last week to hole that shot to win the tournament, you know. But, you know, there's a lot of that stuff that happens in the Ryder Cup if you've never been to a Ryder Cup, there's a lot of people that hole shots. And I don't know if it's just because there's only four or five groups on the golf course at one time and there's always of these people watching those four or five but it's just magnified by the cheers of the crowd or whatever.

I've just never been in a forum like the Ryder Cup. It's like you're in a it's like you're a Roman gladiator in the coliseum. I mean, I don't know what that could be like. But the crowd cheering for you and an amphitheater type effect; it's pretty powerful. I can paint a pretty nice picture about it.

Q. From the Ryder Cups you've watched and played in, do you think captains get too much credit when they win and too much criticism when they lose?

HAL SUTTON: Ultimately it comes down to the play of the players. I don't know the answer to that because I've not been a captain throughout this process yet. I personally think that maybe we have not been as prepared before we got to the Ryder Cup. I don't know if that's the fault of a captain or anybody else; that's just the way it's been, such a busy life, basically for everybody.

But I will answer it, again, the way I did, ultimately it's going to come down to the play of the players. You know, I worry about Saturday night's pairings, you know, for Sunday. I mean, because there's so many points decided on Sunday, I mean, how do you play? Do you play really aggressive? I get asked that a thousand times by either friends, media, whatever, how will you do that, and I have no earthly idea how I will do that. I just I'll answer it like we're going there to try to win and we'll do whatever we have to do to try to win.

Q. Are you're saying being prepared is that primarily passion or is there other ways?

HAL SUTTON: Just make it a priority. I think all of these guys are somewhat goal oriented. I think they all probably sit down at the beginning of the year and said, you know, I want to do this and this and this and this and I sure hope and pray that most of these guys on the left hand side of this page right here made winning the Ryder Cup one of their goals.

Q. If you had one of the Top 10 that you felt like didn't have the passion that you wanted to see, but they were on the team because they were in that Top 10, would you sit them?

HAL SUTTON: I'm going to answer this way. In 1999, I went to Ben Crenshaw and I said, "Let's do something different this year than we've ever done. Let's play to win." Just because a guy made the team, that doesn't mean that he has to play or doesn't have to play. If he's a team player and he wants to win, he want to play whatever role he can.

I'm going to fast forward to 2002. And I really was not playing well at the time that we played the Ryder Cup. And I went to Curtis Strange and I said, "Look, feel no pressure at all from me to do anything. I will be the biggest cheerleader that I need to be. I do not need to play. If I cannot help us win, I shouldn't play. So don't feel pressured by me." And that's my strategy. I won't vary far from that.

Q. Would you ever consider sitting someone all the way through till Sunday?

HAL SUTTON: If I felt like we had to, yes, I would. I probably wouldn't sit three guys. (Laughter.) But (Laughter.)

Q. But what?

HAL SUTTON: (Laughs).

Q. You talked about Ryder Cup Captains maybe getting too much play and too much pressure, one of them who had a win and also a loss as a Ryder Cup Captain is your assistant captain, and you referred to him a little bit before about the counsel you might be receiving. Those people in the game who don't know him very well, might not know exactly what you're talking about, what kind of counsel and input and reaction do you expect from him and what kind of guy do you think he will be on the team?

HAL SUTTON: I personally think that Jackie Burke is the most knowledgeable person left in the game, other than Byron Nelson. Byron Nelson is too old Jackie is 82 I think, but Jackie looks like he's 62 and would fight if we needed to right out here. He's also a psychologist. I don't think's he's a trained psychologist, but he is, trust me. And if you don't believe it, ask him.

He's extremely knowledgeable about the golf swing and man, he was great friends with Ben Hogan, Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, all of what we know as the greatest players in the game. I can't help but think if nothing else but the guys that have never met Jackie Burke, they get to spend a week with this guy. I mean, I've already done them a favor just by the mere fact that I've talked Jackie into being part of this and doing this.

And oh, by the way, it didn't take much effort on my part to talk him into it. He was glad to do it. I think we are so lucky to have him, as well as Steve Jones. I really admire Steve. He's a great person. He was really good player and he had a little magic at Oakland hills, too. So I'm happy that Steve said yes, too.

Q. Jackie is a little eccentric. Do you think that the players who don't know him very well will get all that history and what it means in his perhaps eccentric style?

HAL SUTTON: Oh, I think everybody will have so much fun with Jackie Burke they don't know what to do.

I think Saturday night and Sunday night, the night before when we talk about what the week has meant; and then on Sunday when we talk about what the week has meant, I think that's going to be one of the top things that everybody talks about is being able to spend a week with Jackie.

Q. You were on the Ryder Cup team that played across the street and it's always been my sense weren't you?

HAL SUTTON: No, I wasn't.

Q. Weren't you an automatic?

HAL SUTTON: That was back when you had to be a Class A pro and I wasn't quite a Class A pro yet. I thought I should have been on that team. (Laughter.) And down deep in my heart, I always felt like I made that team but I wasn't on it.

Q. That was the first time the Ryder Cup got the Americans' attention, all American golfers; that this has become a competition. Is that fair or not?

HAL SUTTON: That's probably right. They poured it on us in '85 right after that, I remember that. Then in '87 we just knew we were going to win it back and we didn't win it back on home turf. So that's probably the turning point.

Q. You mentioned at the start that with everything else that's been going on, doesn't matter whether you make a birdie or a bogey. When was the last time you had had that kind of feeling or experience.

HAL SUTTON: I don't know. This has been a different year for me. There's been a lot of things that have happened to me, you know, ABC calling me and wanting me to broadcast. I don't know why everything is coming to me like this. I really don't know where my future is going to go from here. So I'm just going to ride this out this year, do the best I can at whatever I'm trying to do at the time and re evaluate after this year is over with and we'll see where I go.

Q. How much help and support are you getting from your other assistant captain, your wife? Is she having fun with this process and how much is she helping you?

HAL SUTTON: Yeah, I think she is. But she's got a big job herself. We have four children, you know, so I don't get a chance to give her credit enough, raising four kids when your husband is on the road all the time is not an easy job.

But she's been very helpful. I bounce things off of her about what she thinks would be a good idea and she's just as honest as I am; she tells me usually.

Q. Having been through three of these Hal Sutton press conferences, and each time you've talked about, it's the players that play and if we win it's the players. But if you lose, will you take the brunt of that?

HAL SUTTON: If I had to take the brunt of it, that would be my role, you know. You know, I knew that when the PGA of America asked me to be the captain of the Ryder Cup team. I knew that the role of that was is, if you win, you're like something magical happened that you pulled it off. And if you lose, well, you're thrown to the wolves basically.

But I understand. It's part of the job. That's where sports is today. I mean, look at it everywhere else. I mean, if you don't win we're back to the question right here, the spirit of the game. The spirit of the game, the spirit of the game is winning. Who do you pull for; who is your favorite college team.

Q. Just interested to the different approaches, you're a much more fiery person.

HAL SUTTON: I think I have a lot of respect for Duke basketball. I think that's probably most everybody in here, you might not like them, but you've got to respect them. I see a coach that wants to win so badly on the sideline. Do you see the same coach that I see? I mean, somehow, players feel that. They sense it. They know. And that didn't happen like ten minutes before the game started. That was something that happened from the day they signed onto play with the Duke Blue Devils.

That's kind of my theory behind this whole thing is we're going to talk about it, we're going to kind of make it a goal, a priority, and we're going to work towards it.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Captain Hal Sutton, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297